Las Vegas Views World Jewelry Center Plans

Las Vegas Mayor Oscar B. Goodman welcomed guests and Probity's Robert Zarnegin and Bill Boyajian to celebrate this future one-million square foot mixed-use World Jewelry Center.

The World Jewelry Center is expected to host both corporate offices and trading offices of several hundred domestic and international  gem and jewelry companies. The center will also have free-standing retail jewelry stores. The complex is planned to open for business between late 2009 and mid-year 2010.

Altoon & Porter Architects have designed the cornerstone of The World Jewelry Center, which will be an iconic, state-of-the-art office tower (one of the tallest office buildings in Nevada.)

Tenants will own their own subdivided space in the tower and the structure will include meeting and exhibition facilities, international restaurants, a private club and a fitness center.

The top floors of the tower will be dedicated to luxury residential condominiums with panoramic views of the Las Vegas sprawling, desert landscape. An adjacent three-story retail jewelry center will offer a world-class gem and jewelry museum and exhibition space for the public.

"We're very excited about this global project coming to our city," said Mayor Goodman. "The World Jewelry Center will revolutionize the jewelry industry as well as change the way people and businesses view Las Vegas.

"The entire concept of the World Jewelry Center is very progressive and will fit in well with all the other innovative, international business projects coming to our city. The tower itself will change the face of the Las Vegas skyline and become a key landmark for the city."

The Center will be built with every amenity and service in mind to make it the world's premier fully integrated, service-oriented business hub catering to international and domestic retailers, manufacturers, dealers, and wholesalers in the gem, jewelry, and pearl industries.

Other features include state-of-the-art security; secure shipping and receiving; gem grading labs and educational facilities; trade associations; and plans for a dedicated Foreign Trade Zone.

The World Jewelry Center will be located in downtown Las Vegas (not on the Strip) within the prominent master-planned community of Union Park.

"We look at the World Jewelry Center as adding value and synergy to the industry as a whole," said the project's managing director Boyajian of Probity. "We are building this world-class facility so that industry professionals and other major global centers will have another marketplace with which to do business more effectively and in real-time. To be well connected, to build business, and to enhance commercial opportunities, industry leaders will want to have offices here. I am pleased to say that many of the world's leaders in multiple sectors of the trade have already signed up to join us."

According to Boyajian the master plan has already attracted key trade leaders who span across industry sectors and country borders. "Our goal for the retail center mirrors that of the trade tower. We are focused on quality, integrity and value in building and enhancing consumer confidence. Our emphasis will be on public education, security, convenience, product differentiation, and a great buying experience. Nothing will be spared in meeting these objectives," Boyajian said.

Probity's president Zarnegin said, "Many people within the industry have asked me, 'Why Las Vegas?'"

"Las Vegas is a crossroads that is well-known around the world. People love to travel here for both business and pleasure. A key reason for building this industry hub in Las Vegas is that the environment here is truly progressive and pro-business."

Probity chose Las Vegas because it offers no  state corporate, inventory or personal income tax; and it allows for creating a Foreign Trade Zone facility within the World Jewelry Center.

Nevada's largest city also has superior telecom and utility infrastructure; Las Vegas hosted 40 million visitors in 2005, and is one of the largest convention markets in the United States.

Probity is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California, and is a fully-integrated real estate company that has developed and operated Class-A office, hotel, retail, industrial and residential properties worldwide. Some noteworthy projects include: The Peninsula Beverly Hills; 660 Madison, in New York City; and  The Wilshire, and the Brentwood Financial Plaza in Los Angeles.